Robert M.N. Palmer, The Law Offices of Robert M.N. Palmer, P.C., Brent Goudarzi, Goudarzi & Young, LLP, and T. John Ward, Jr., Law Office of T. John Ward, Jr., attorneys for plaintiffs; and Thomas Klein, Bowman & Brooke, LLP, Janice O’Grady, Bowman & Brooke, LLP, and Rickey L. Faulkner, Brown McCarroll, LLP, attorneys for defendants. 

On December 11, 2001 Bobbie Kay Gessman and her two children, Natalie (4 years old) and Braden (3 years old) Henderson, had a going away dinner with Bobbie Kay’s sister at her grandmother’s house. Ross Henderson, the children’s father, had brought the children to Bobbie Kay at the dinner but forgot to leave their low-shield booster seats. After the dinner Bobbie Kay seated Natalie in the left rear seating position and Braden in the right rear seating position of her 2000 Ford Explorer. Both children were restrained by the three-point belt systems and were in compliance with Texas State Law. It had been raining that day and was currently raining on their way home to Winnsboro, Texas. After passing a draw Bobbie Kay hit a pool of water that had collected on the roadway and tried to over correct her steering to stay on the roadway. The 2000 Ford Explorer left the roadway and overturned 1 ½ times before coming to rest on it’s roof against a group of trees. After the accident Bobbie Kay was able to remove Braden from the vehicle. Neither of them were injured in the accident. Bobbie Kay immediately returned to the vehicle and found Natalie suspended upside down still being restrained by the left rear three-point belt system. Natalie’s seat belt had at least 7 inches of slack and allowed her head to make contact with the intruding vehicles’ C-pillar. Natalie sustained a traumatic brain injury. 
 

Natalie Henderson is a seven-year-old girl with a traumatic brain injury. Natalie suffers from short-term memory loss and functions at a three-year-old level. She currently receives various forms of therapy along with botox injections. She has gone through numerous scalp extension surgeries and is required to wear leg braces and a helmet to help protect against further injury. She will require daily assistance for the rest of her life.  
 

Forgotten Child (Children 4 to 8 years of age). As Ford admitted at trial, the three-point belt system in the rear seat of the 2000 Ford Explorer was not designed for children 4 to 8 years of age and Ford knew this for 30 years and did very little if anything to correct this problem. A number of other manufactures offered integrated child and booster seats or as in Europe recommended specific child and booster seats to address this issue. Ford’s position was to blame the parents for the injuries and deaths that have occurred instead of offering designs to cure this defect.